How to Actually Mix Major and Minor Pentatonics (Key of A)

If you wish your blues solos sounded better, if you wish they had more emotion, but you've been stuck for months or years or decades trying to get there, chances are you're missing one simple idea. You're going to mix major and minor.

This is the idea I've used on Grammy nominated recordings, my students absolutely love it, and today we're breaking it all the way down in the key of A.

The finger landmark system

When you're playing a shuffle in A, I can almost guarantee you're resorting to the minor pentatonic box. That's what 99 percent of guitar players do. Here's the way out, and it's built on one landmark.

First finger on the root note on the low E string: you're going up major. In A, that's your first finger on the fifth fret.

Ring finger on that same root: you're in minor. One landmark, and you always know which sound you're in.

Up major, down minor, land on the chord

Go up the A major pentatonic two octaves, nice and slow, with a slide on the way. That alone sounds great. That's Allman Brothers land, and a lot of players stay there.

But if you want to infuse the really bluesy sound, don't come down major. Come down minor. Connect the two scales like Lego blocks: up the major from the first finger landmark, walk down the minor from the ring finger landmark, sneak in a blues note if you want, and land on the major chord.

You can land minor too, but I love landing major over a dominant chord. That landing is what tells everyone listening that you know exactly where you are.

The detail intermediates miss: pick, pick, slide

Here's a small thing that makes a big difference. When you have three notes on one string, most intermediate players pick every note. Don't. Pick, pick, then slide into the third note with your ring finger. That slide is where the grease lives, on the way up and on the way down.

Follow the changes, even the quick ones

Now extrapolate it to all three chords. Over the A, run the move in A. When the D comes, up D major, down D minor, land on D. Same for the E.

And when the changes come quick, like the quick change to the four in bar two, you won't have time to run the whole thing. So just go up as far as you can, imply the change, and come back. When you have more time, like bars three and four, take the full trip.

If you've been stuck in minor pentatonic prison, this is the way out. Some players get away with camping in minor forever, and Stevie Ray Vaughan was incredible at it. But if you feel your creativity being capped by that box, this lesson is the door.

The fast version of this move in E lives in up major, down minor, land major, and the whole framework around it is the four step system.

Watch the original video: Do THIS To Start Mixing Major and Minor Pentatonics in Your Blues Solos

Want to go deeper?

Grab the free Blues Bootcamp. It walks through these concepts with tabs, downloadable PDFs, backing tracks, and a jam with me section.

And if blues soloing has never quite made sense, check out The Blues Guitar System, my full course. Hundreds of folks have told me it transformed their playing.